Calgary Flying Club sees value in new China deal

24 August 2016

Calgary Flying Club CEO Duane Hicks is now training Chinese students as part of a 5-year deal for more commercial pilots. (Dave Gilson/CBC)

The Calgary Flying Club is training its first class of aviation students from China after a five-year deal was struck to generate more commercial pilots as demand heats up in that country's aviation sector.

"They'll leave here with a full commercial licence with a multi-engine rating and an instrument flight rating also," said the club's CEO Duane Hicks.

"The government of China has asked us for five years to train as many pilots as we can."

The club started training 16 students from China this spring.

The Air Transport Association of Canada represents the country's commercial air transport industry, including flight schools.

President John McKenna says his group has travelled to China on several occasions to pitch Canada's aviation training capacity and expertise.

He says 45 per cent of the commercial licences issued in Canada over the past year were earned by foreign pilots.

ATAC Congratulates Boeing for its 100 Years of Operation

13 July 2016

Since July 15, 1916, The Boeing Company has been making the impossible, possible. From producing a single canvas-and-wood airplane to transforming how we fly over oceans and into the stars, The Boeing Company has become the world's largest aerospace company. And we're just getting started.

Join them this year with events, activities and commemorations that celebrate not only our first century of innovation but also the people and moments that inspire us to live by our founder Bill Boeing’s philosophy -- “build something better.”